Answers
by TaterTot87
Summary: Things have been different since Booth and Brennan returned. now they want some answers
1. Chapter 1

okay, so this is the first fic I have ever uploaded. I have been writing (in general) for years but this is my first attempt in the world of fan fiction. so please be nice.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing...if I did, I'd want Booth. :)

Booth stood in his hallway staring at the door. Hannah chattered about the phone behind him, but he didn't really notice. All he could see was his partners face as she walked out the door. He tried to comprehend the look in her eyes. understanding? joy? hurt? love? He supposed it was a mixture of them all.

"What happened to us?"he asked himself quietly.

"Whats that, hun?" Hannah asked, wrapping her arms around his waist.

He had forgotten she was there."uhh..."he tried to think of something to say "Nothing, babe...just thinking to myself"

He followed her back into the living room and half heartedly listened to her chatter on about where to put stuff and when to have everyone over for supper. He smiled at her as she happily bounced around the living room. He loved her, and he was happy that she was so happy. Then why couldn't he get rid of the nagging feeling that something was wrong?

Hannah chattered about the phone and how glad she was that he liked it, until she noticed his eyes fixated on the door. She could see him deep in thought and she knew he wasn't thinking about her. "Dammit if I'm gonna lose him to a scientist freak incapable of human feelings"she thought to herself. Don't get her wrong, she liked Brennan, she liked all the people from the Jeffersonian. but something about the way Temperance looked at Booth made her uneasy.  
"She rejected him, she broke his heart into a million tiny pieces. You cant fix that. She had her chance, he is mine now"  
She heard him mumble something to himself, his eyes still glued to the door. Hannah thought he had enough time alone with his thoughts and she needed to redirect his attention back to her. She glided up and slipped her arms casually around his waist. She felt the muscles tense at the sudden contact.

"Whats that, hun" she asked softly. His eyes locked with hers and softened. finally bringing him back to the present. once she was satisfied that she had his full attention back she went back to her excited chatter about various different things.

when they went to bed that night she knew something wasnt right with him, he seemed distant.  
"I will just have to try harder" she thought to herself as sleep claimed her.

Temperance couldn't get the sad, lost look on Booth's face out of her mind. She had come home from his place, changed, gone jogging, showered and even attempting to write another chapter for her upcoming book. nothing seemed to distract her from him.

"I had my chance and I blew it. I have no right to feel envious of Hannah." She sighed, frustrated with herself. She focused her eyes on her laptop. The newest chapter of her novel on the screen. She stared at it, almost blankly, for several minutes then finally slapped the cover down and stood up.

"This is ridiculous. We both knew he was gonna move on. why does this bother me so much?"

She looked at the clock on the coffee table, it read 1:45am. Sighing defeatedly to herself she went and crawled into bed. She just wanted things to go back to normal. A single tear slid down her cheek as she succumed to sleep.

The next few days passed in a blur for all of them. Booth was busy with cases and Hannah. Bones was busy with her own cases and trying to get her book finished. She did everything she could to keep busy and keep Booth out of her mind.

By the end of the week Booth was getting irritable. He hadn't seen Bones in almost a week and he missed her. He missed their friendly banter and quiet understanding of what was going on in each others head.

The Friday work day came to a close. Booth decided he had had enough of the stoney silence between he and Brennan. He called Hannah to let her know he would be late.

"But I wanted to go out for dinner..." Hannah whined.

Booth sighed. He felt bad for disappointing her, but he hated it when she was overly clingy. "Look Hannah, I'm sorry. There is something I need to do. We can go out tomorrow. I promise"

"Fine...How long will you be?" She inquired

"I don't really know." He replied, almost coldy. "Look, I gotta go. I'll see you later" He hung up, without giving her a chance to respond.

He pulled into the parking lot of the Jeffersonian. He rubbed his neck and got out of the suv. "I have to do this" he thought solemnly to himself. "I need to know"

He hurried into the building, rushing past the security guard and the museum exhibit entrances and down to the Medico-legal lab. as he walked through the sliding glass doors he slowed his pace. He began to wonder if he was doing the right thing. He looked around, memories floating back to him. all the cases they worked, as a team, all the quiet moments, guy-hugs and friendly banter. He wondered if she would actually still be in the lab..."wait, it's friday night. of course she'll be here"

He approached her office cautiously. seeing her at her desk furiously typing on her computer. he stood at the door. quietly watching her. He could tell she wasn't fully concentrating on what she was working on, could tell that part of her mind was elsewhere.

He stood just watching. trying to figure out how to start the conversation he knew they had to have. sighing softly to himself he took a small step into the office.

"We didn't hold" he started quietly.

Brennan nearly jumped out of her chair. "Jesus Booth! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Booth fought the smile that was forcing its way onto his face, "I've never seen her so jumpy" he thought to himself.

"Sorry."he stated simply.

Once Brennan's heart rate slowed back to a normal pace, she looked up at him.

"What did you say?"

"We didn't hold. You said we would hold." He said in a rush, before he lost the courage to speak to her so openly.

"You're right, we didn't hold. We're not the center anymore, Booth." She said, trying to mask the pain she felt by her own words.

Booth felt like someone had stabbed him right in the heart. Her words were cold and he tried to hide the sudden jab of pain.

"We were always the center. What happened to us, Bones?" He asked, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Things change, Booth. People change, you taught me that." She said. Sounding just as cold and harsh as her voice would allow. She didn't want him to see that she was hurt.

"Not that much can change in a year, Brennan. Talk to me. We were still the center when we got back, what's happened between then and now? " He asked desperately, showing the pain in his eyes. He needed to know when she had stopped caring about their friendship. When she had stopped caring about him.

"A lot can change in a year, Booth. We both changed while we were away. and there is some change you just can't go back from. Now if you'll excuse me, i have work to do." She replied icely. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep her emotions in check for much longer and she didn't want him to see her break.

Her words stung. and he felt anger start to build to the surface. five years they had been partners, not just partners they were friends. In that five years she had never treated him like he was nothing. even when she hated him, he knew that she cared. Now, for the first time in their friendship, he wasn't so sure.

"No, Bones. Lets have this out. We don't work cases together anymore, we don't get thai or go to the diner, we don't even talk on the phone or text anymore. Last week when you were at my apartment was the first time i had seen or talked to you in weeks and even then you flew out of there as fast as you could!" His eyes locked with hers as his anger took over "Just tell me when you stopped giving a damn? When did it just become the job to you? Why didn't you talk to me before you haphazardly threw five years of friendship out the window? huh? I want answers, dammit!" He was breathing heavily after his rant and he just stared at her, waiting for an answer to any of the questions, waiting for some sign that she could still care.

Brennan eyes widened, shocked at his outburst of anger. She had never seen him like that, it scared her slightly. She sat there looking at him, letting his words sink in. As she mulled through everything he had said she felt her own anger start to boil over. She fought to keep it down

"Just leave it alone, Booth. Whats done is done. Now please, I have work to do. just go." She replied trying to keep her annoyance and anger in check.

Booth could see that she was desperately trying to keep her emotions inside and normally he would've backed down seeing the pleading look in her eyes. But today, today was different, now that he was here he didn't want to leave without any answers.

"LIKE HELL! I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL YOU GIVE ME SOME DAMN ANSWERS" He shouted at her, he didn't mean to. He was so tired of this cold demeanor of hers that he was doing everything he could to get her to listen.

She felt her own anger finally bubble over. She didn't try to fight it this time. She stood up swiftly as she tried to calm her thoughts down to one at a time.

"You want answers?" she shouted. "What the hell makes you think you deserve any answers? You are just at just as much fault as I am for how things are so you have absolutely no right to barge in here demanding answers with that alpha-male stance of yours, Booth!"she took a quick breath deciding whether or not to continue

"And you know, I NEVER stopped caring. Never! It's you who walked away. It's you who so casually tossed our friendship away. All because you have Hannah now and to hell with everyone else."

She saw hurt and anger flash across his face, but she wasn't done talking and she wasn't gonna let him break her tangent

" I went to the diner every single day since I got back! EVERY DAY. But ever since Hannah showed up you stopped showing up. And like an idiot, I continued to go. I even always ordered coffee and pie in hopes, that just once you would be mildy cured from a serious case of recto-cranial inversion and show up. Finally, after I saw you last, I knew that we were done and I stopped going. I stopped going by the coffee cart too. I stopped hoping I would randomly run into you and things could start to go back to normal." She sighed angrily " I stopped diluding myself that some small part of you still cared about me...about all of us." She couldn't keep the tears back anymore and they started spilling onto her cheeks.

She brushed them away angrily. Hating that she was losing her composure.

"There! You got your damn answers. Now, please... just go away." She swerved around him and hurried out of her office. he stood there looking slightly dumbfounded..."did that just happen?" He asked himself and solemly walked out of the lab. feeling worse than ever.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, Thanks everyone for the kind reviews and adding the story and author to alert and favorites! It made my day. so as promised the next chapter is up. I still have no idea where this story is heading but it's gonna be fun getting there. The next couple chapters are really really short, i'm sorry. Don't worry, it gets longer in chapter 5, :)

**Disclaimer:** I still own nothing...yet i keep wishing for Booth. hmmm

Temperance watched Booth slowly exit the lab, his head hanging low in defeat. Once she was absolutely certain that he would be out of the building, she scurried back to her office and shut the door. Sitting own on the couch, she sighed to herself. part of her felt guilty for being so cold with him, yet she found it oddly liberating to say some of the things she had been bottling up.

placing her head in her hands, she felt so lost and defeated. How had this happened? how had their relationship gotten to be so toxic? She just wanted things back to normal. She wanted her friend back.

Her eyes scanned her office, trying to find something to distract her from dwelling on Booth, her eyes settling on the picture on the corner of the table in front of her. She picked it up, analyzing it slowly. Finally the dam broke, and all the tears she had been fighting back bean to pour down her cheeks. She clutched the photo to her chest and laid back on the the couch, letting the tears fall. Fully knowing that there was absolutely no way she could stop them.

She sobbed for what seemed like an hour, until she didn't have the energy to keep crying. sniffling lightly she closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Booth" She mumbled as sleep claimed her, still clutching the picture to her chest.

Told you it was short. :( Sorry guys, I'm working on it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **still own nothing. :(

Booth drove around aimlessly for what seemed like hours, replaying his fight with Bones in his wasn't sure who he was more angry at, her for her crazy accusations or at himself for thinking they might be true.

"This is such a mess." he said to himself.

As he continue to drive, he thought about the last few months. He thought about when the last time he was actually at the diner, or the last time he ordered Thai food. He wanted so much to convince himself that she was wrong.

"She has no right to turn this around on me. I haven't gone anywhere. I haven't changed. She is the one that backed out, tossing me away like we were nothing."

He could feel his anger build again. "I have to stop thinking about this. She was wrong!"

Deciding it was time to head home, knowing Hannah would probably be worried, he blocked Temperance out of his mind and headed toward his apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Bones is still not mine. sadly. I keep hoping one day they will be mine.

Hannah tidied the apartment while waiting for Booth,knowing fully well where he had gone. She could tell he was restless and he missed his Bones, she couldn't help feel a slight stab of jealousy, knowing that it was possible that Brennan could still reclaim Booth's heart.

After tidying up and making a plate of supper for Booth she sat on the couch with a book. She wasn't going to go to bed without Booth. So she would read to ass the time.

after an hour or so she was getting irritated. She was tired and she wanted him to come home so they could go to she called his cell, getting more and more irritated when he didn't answer

" God dammit." she grumbled.

Hannah finally heard the key in the lock and her heart jumped. he's home. "No matter what hapened with Brennan he still came home to me"

_OK everyone, That's it for the really short chapters. I promise the next one will be longer_


	5. Chapter 5

OK, Once again, Wow. Thanks for the reviews, you all Rock! As promised this chapter is longer. and yet, once again, I still have absolutely no idea where this is headed but I will try to keep updating as quickly as possible. You all are Fantastic and I hope you enjoy the new chapter

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I still own nothing

Booth unlocked his apartment door and entered, expecting Hannah to be sleeping, he tried to be very quiet. He hung up his jacket and noticed a soft glow coming from the living room.

"Hannah must have left the lamp on for me. That's sweet" He said quietly to himself

He padded quietly to the living room stopping short when he saw his blonde girlfriend sitting on the couch looking at him wide eyed.

"Hey, What are you still doing up? It's late." He asked as she crossed the room and wrapped her arms round his neck, pulling him down for a quick kiss.

She smiled softly "I didn't want to go to bed without you, so I waited up."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him."That's sweet, Babe. Thank you" he whispered, burying his face in her hair.

She wanted desperately to know if Brennan was a part of his life again.

"How did it go with Brennan?" She asked quietly, and chuckled at him when he looked at her in shock. "It's a Friday night, I figured that's where you were going." She smiled

He chuckled, she knew him sat down on the couch as he started to speak " It was loud" he said, only feeling the need to elaborate when she looked at him curiously. " There was yelling. I got so mad that she was being so cold that I really let her have it. Even after she asked me to just let it go and to leave her alone, I kept pushing it. Finally she started yelling back. Saying that I was the one who abandoned our friendship and that our relationship is what it is because of me..and you." He said, frustrated.

Hannah felt anger overtake her. "Your fault? how is it your fault? You fought like hell to get things back to normal with her. I fought hard to be her friend, knowing how important she is to you and she threw it in our faces. The woman has absolutely no regard for your feelings." She was fuming.

Booth was taken aback by her sudden outburst of anger. He was quick to defend Bones "She didn't mean any of it, Hannah. She was angry and hurt. I haven't been the greatest friend. I have been more focused on you that keeping our partnership together. She was just trying to get me to listen to her." As he spoke he realized the truth in the statement. Maybe it was really him that had walked away from her, not the other way around.

" I can't believe you're defending her!" Hannah shouted. "She is a cold, unfeeling, completely heartless wretch. I tried, Seeley. I tried to see the good in her. I tried to put myself in her shoes, thinking God what must she have gone through to make her turn out this way? I tried to be her friend, Seeley. She completely blew me off. Now she wants to blame me for you two barely speaking? That's so wrong." Hannah was breathless after her speech.

Booth could feel Hannah's anger bore through him and he was actually slightly afraid of her. While he could understand her anger, he could feel his own anger building up, for the second time that evening, he felt like he was gonna explode. "You don't even know her, Hannah." He said as softly as he could, trying not to sound as angry as he felt.

"I don't want to know her!" She retorted. "I don't want anything to do with her."

Booth grabbed his coat and shoes from the hall closet. "I'm out of here" he said coldly. He knew he needed to leave before this argument got out of hand.

"Like hell you are. You belong with me, Seeley! Not her!You chose me!" She huffed angrily.

Booth could feel his anger creeping out, no matter how much he tried to keep it in. "Hannah stop!" He shouted.

She stepped back slightly. "I came back from Afghanistan for you, Booth. You said you wanted to be with me, you even asked me to move in. and now you're gonna let that freak tear us apart."

Booth lost it "You don't know her Hannah, you could never possibly know why Brennan is the way she is. I didn't ask you to come here. I did, however, ask her to stay. Regardless of your opinion, Brennan is still my friend. Yes, We may be going through a tough time, and I may have no clue what is gonna happen, but I will be damned if I let you talk me out of fighting for her. I did choose you, and I do want to be with you, but not at the expense of all my friends. It doesn't stop with Brennan. Cam and I never get to talk or go out for a drink anymore, I haven't been to visit Zack in a year. I have seen Hodgins and Angela once since they got back, outside of work anyway. All because you wanted me to spend all my spare time with you, and I get that. But I will not, under any circumstances, lose Brennan for you." It was his turn to be breathless.

"And I won't lose you to her!" She responded quickly

They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes, both seething.

"She rejected you, Booth. You put your heart out on a limb and she crushed it. How are you so willing to fight for her?"

"Because Brennan is my best friend! She knows me better than I know myself and no matter how much has changed I'm not ready to lose that. I have sacrificed everyone for you, Do not ask me to sacrifice her too"

"I'm not asking...I'm demanding. If you really want me then you will give this up now."

Booth looked at her angrily, Her eyes pleading at him. The look in her eyes only seemed to make him angrier. He couldn't believe that she seriously expected him to give up everything for her.

"I find it really tough to believe that you seriously love me if you're standing there demanding me to give up everything that I have" Booth said, through gritted teeth. He was done yelling, he just wanted this argument to end

"I'm not telling you to give up everything, I'm telling you to give up her!" Hannah spitted back

"SHE IS EVERYTHING!" He shouted. He quickly shut his mouth as soon as he realized what he had said.

Tears welled up in Hannah's eyes. she fought to not them fall, to not let him see that he had broken her.

"Well...looks like your decision is already made." She said, defeated. She grabbed her suitcases out of the hall closet and ran into the bedroom. As Booth heard her frantically throwing things into the suitcases, he just stood in the hallway. unable to move. His brain was telling him to go after her, to convince her to stay. His heart was telling him just to let her go. He knew no matter how much he fought to keep Hannah, he could never love her as much as he loved Bones.

She came flying out of the bedroom a few moments later, bags in hand.

"I hoe you know what you're doing, Booth" she said. She tried to make her voice cold and harsh, but she was still fighting tears and it ended u coming out in a sort of whimper.

"Hannah..." he started, but couldn't figure out what to say. "I'm sorry" he finally managed to choke out

"yeah, me too. I'm sorry that you're a complete and total moron. But I'm not sorry that I'm walking away." She said bitterly as the tears were starting to seep out.

As she opened the door and began to exit, she turned back, a single tear running down her cheek.  
"One thing Booth, How do you know you haven't lost her already?"

With that final jab at him, she was gone. He stood in the hallway staring at the door. He was so angry and so scared that he had no idea what to do with himself. he walked slowly into the living room and sank down onto the couch. Sighing to himself he ran his hand over his tired eyes.

"Great, Now what am I going to do?"


	6. Chapter 6

Now as a Thank you for all the fantastic reviews i decided to post 2 more chapters than I had originally planned to post today. They're fairly short but don't worry, It will all work out in the end. :)

Hannah stormed out of the apartment building, still fuming. The tears streaming down her face only agrivated her more. She hailed a cab outside the building, lacing her bags in the trunk and climbing into the back.

"where to?" The driver asked.

Hannah sat in silence, trying to decide where she wanted to go.

"Hey, Lady. Where am I taking you?" The driver asked again.

"Take me to the Jeffersonian Institution." Hannah said. Feeling her anger start to boil up again. She needed to talk to Brennan. And she didn't care if she had to search all night for her.  
Fifteen minutes later, the taxi pulled up to the entrance of the Jeffersonian. After paying the taxi driver she grabbed her bags and headed inside the building.

Finally making her way down to the edico-legal lab, she obtained a visitors badge and left her bags at the security desk. Going inside to find the woman who had just taken everything from her.

Seeing the door closed on 's office, she thought that the doctor had gone home for the night.

"hmm, I wonder if she locks her office?" She said to herself quietly. Making her way to the door she knocked softly then tried the handle. as the door slowly opened, Hannah peeked her head inside, seeing no one she sighed.

"well dang, I was really hoping to have it out with the bitch...I wonder if she keeps anything with her address on her desk." She quietly padded over to the desk and started sifting through files. finding nothing that would tell her where Brennan lives she sighed again, angrily.

As she was heading back to the door, she head a slight groan from behind her. Turning around and peeking over the couch, she sees he good doctor herself, sleeping, a picture clinging to her chest and tear tracks down her cheeks. Hannah was so angry that the first thought that passed through her mind was to wake her u and let her have it. Instead she slowly pried the picture out of her hands and flipped it over. Looking at the photo, the tears just poured out of her eyes.

Replacing the photo in Brennan's hands, Hannah sniffled lightly and turned around, heading back to the door.

"Congratulations . You win" she whispered as she closed the door and headed out of the lab.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **As always, not mine. I'm just borrowing them

A few days had passed since their fight in the lab and Brennan still couldn't concentrate on anything except for Booth. Anytime someone would talk to her, she either ignored them completely or snapped and snarled at them. Her coworkers were seriously concerned. Angela finally decided it was time to confront her friend about what was going on

"Sweetie, can we talk?" Angela asked, standing at her friends office door trying to stay out of the line of fire.

Brennan was siting at her desk, pouring over lab results for their latest skeleton from limbo. Still staring at the file, Brennan responded quickly " now is not a good time, Angela"

Daring to take a step into the office, Angela looked at her friend worried. "Honey, we're worried about you."

"I'm fine, Ange. Just busy" Brennan's voice was more icy than she intended

"No, no you're not. You're not fine. You haven't gone home in days, all you do is work. You even blew off dinner the other day. When you bother to speak to anyone at all, all you do is bark at us." Angela walked over to the front of the desk as she spoke.

Brennan finally looked up from the file and looked at her friend. seeing the concern written on her friends face, Brennan sighed. "Angela, I'm sorry. It hasn't been a great couple of weeks."

"Honey, what happened?"

"I really don't want to talk about it. I'm okay, really"

Seeing the hurt flash in her friends eyes, Angela almost backed she realized what this was all about.

"This is about Booth, isn't it?" Angela said, a smile smile creeping across her lips.

"How did you...?" Brennan asked, her voice laden with surprise.

"Please Bren, It's me. I can read you like an open book. And it is written all over your face." Angela said, unable to stop the smile.

Brenna sighed, standing up from the desk and motioning her friend over to the couch. Once they we both seated, Brennan searched for the words to explain

"Well..Booth...It's over" Brennan sputtered. Angela looked at her, partly confused, partly sympathetic

"Bren, what happened?"

"He came, we fought, he left" Temperance didn't really want to elaborate, but she knew Angela wasn't going to let it go. As she looked at the concern in her friends eyes she felt her own eyes well up with tears.

"He came here, days ago, demanding answers for why things are so bad between us. I begged him to leave it alone, I asked him to leave, but he kept pushing and pushing. Finally I just snapped. He yelled, I yelled. I told him that it was all his fault, that it was because of Hannah that we don' talk anymore. I was so angry." The tears started falling down her cheeks "I was so angry..."The tears starting to take over. "We have been through so much...and we both let it end this way. It wasn't supposed to be over yet" Finally stopping as she couldn't control the tears anymore.

Angela reached over and pulled her friend into a hug, letting her cry.

"It's going to be okay, sweetie." She said, trying to be had to get to the bottom of this, and that means she needs to talk to Booth. but how would she get out of the lab without Brennan noticing what she was up to?


	8. Chapter 8

Omg I am so sorry everyone. I know it has taken me a long time to update. Midterms kept me busy. So now the new chapter is up, once again you all have been fantastic. Enjoy :)

**Disclaimer: **Much to my dismay, They're still not mine 

Booth had not been out in the field for just over a week. He just stayed in his office working on whatever files he could find. He was refusing to go out in the field without Bones, and since she hated him he figured there was very little chance she would go with him.

He continued fliping through files and trying not to think about Bennan. There was a slight tap on the door, he could barely hear it. Deciding it wasn't important he decided to try to ignore he heard he knock again he got up angrily, making his way to the door.

"I told you all to leave me alone. I told you that I didn't want an active case..." He flung open the door and insantly stopped his rant. Angela smiled at him

"Am I disturbing you?" She said, fighting a giggle at the stunned look on his face.

" huh? oh, no. Come in Ange. How are you?" he ushered her in and closed he door behind her. "Have a seat" He said as he ushered her into a chair

"Thanks" She responded sweetly as she sat down. "So , how are you Booth? We don't see you much anymore."

Rubbing his neck, he looked at her "Oh you know, I'm alright. just catching up on some paperwork"

She eyed him suspiciously, fully knowing that he was avoiding the subject of Brennan.

"Alright Booth, I'm just going to dive right in here, Whats going on with you and Brennan? And don't try to lie to me and say it's nothing."

He gaped at her, "man she's good" he thought to himself. "Great, now what to say?" he wondered.

"I can't tell you that nothing is going on because we both know that would be a lie. Things are just off since we go back, thats all." He said, hoping she wouldn't press for details.

"Booth, I like you, but I have to say...you're a complete idiot. Things aren't just off. Things are bad. What did you yell at her about?"

"You know about that?" He continued rubbing his neck "I got frustrated, She was avoiding all my questions and I needed to know, I still need to know, but I don't think she is going to answer anything now."

"You scared her, Booth. She has been trying so hard to give you your space, and let you be with Hannah and then you come in to her office and yell at her for doing did you expect her to react? She thought she was doing what you wanted. Do you have any idea how hard it was for her?"

Booth looked at her wanted her to let him in on some of the things going on in Brennan's head, but at the same time he didn't particularily want to feel any more guilty than he already did.  
Angela took his silence as a sign to clue him in a little

"Other than me of course, You are Brennan's best friend. You are the one she turns to when she doesn't understand the softer side of being human and suddenly you have this beautiful girl fawning all over you and she was scared to talk to you anymore. She didn't want her secrets broadcast to radio-free-Hannah."

Booth's eyes widened."I would never tell anyone Bones's secrets" His voice came out slighly astonished which made Angela chuckle.

"Oh I know that, and I think deep down so does Brennan. She wasn't sure how having Hannah around would effect your partnership and friendship and you made no effort to assure her that she could still talk to you."

Booth let her words sink in a little then smiled sadly at her. "So I guess she was right, This is my fault."

She smiled reassuringly at him. "Not completely Booth. I don't really know if she would have listened to you if you had talked to her. Bottom line is you two need to work this out, if not for you then for the rest of us. Someone is gonna slap her if she stays as cranky as she has been"

Booth smiled weakily at her, "Yeah, Thanks Ange"

She gave him one more brilliant smile. "Talk to her, Booth. It will be ok"

With that, She lef his office. He sank down behind his desk and rubbed his eyes. "This is gonna be tough" He mumbled to himself.


	9. Chapter 9

Again everyone, I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to update this. it has been a crazy few weeks. It is my goal to finish this story before finals but I make no promises. Thanks again for all the great reviews. This chapter is fairly short, but the next one should be longer and should be posted later today. Enjoy :)

**Disclaimer:** Still not mine.

It had been almost a month since everything had blown up in their faces and Booth and Brennan still hadn't spoken, even with Angela's encouragement. Booth just couldn't bring himself to face her and Brennan just continued to wrap herself up in her work.

Monday morning and despite the beautiful weather outside, Booth was hunched over his desk pouring over his paperwork. Suddenly his office door burst open and Caroline stared at him, looking more irritated then normal.

"Hey Caroline, How's it going?" Booth asked, cooley

"Just fine,Booth. No time for small talk though. Got a case for you and I'm not taking no for an answer." She said sternly, handing him the case file.

After taking a quick glance at the file in his hands, he looked at her, shock written on his face.

"Absolutely not" he said difinitively. "I can't take this case"

"Didn't I just say I wasn't taking no for an answer? This is not an optional case, Booth. There is a very good chance that these remains are our missing police officer and we need a difinitive ID."

"But..but..No. I can't. The remains are mostly decomposed...that would mean I would need .I can't." Booth sputtered. He knew that this was a disaster in the making.

"Look Che're, I know you and are not on good terms, but this case is top priority and we need the best agent for it. You will work this case with . No if's, and's, or but's." Caroline said forcefully. She knew she was being harsh with him but this craziness with him and Brennan was apparently not going to solve itself.

"Caroline, I..."Booth started

"This conversation is over." She interrupted, then turned on her heel and exited his office.

He stared after her for a moment, then looked at the file still in his hands.

"Uh oh" he thought, "This is not going to be good"


End file.
